I’ve not been able to write as much as I’ve wanted to as of late. I’ve been pretty busy with my new podcast, and all other time has been spent with family, work, dogs and video games (in that order). I stayed home sick from work one day a few weeks ago, and decided to jot down a short story that had been bouncing around my head for a while.

It’s a sequel! If you’ve read my award winning (ha, I love saying that) short story “The Kill” you know that the ending leaves you wanting more. Well, here it is. I decided that instead of teasing or prequeling (is that a word?) or stepping ahead in time, I’ve just kept it going. Like the DeLorean shooting off into the sky, this story picks up right where the other ends.

Give it a whorl and let me know what you think.

Also, give my podcast a listen, if you haven’t already. Me and my buddy Ben just bullshit for an hour. If you know the kinds of things that I’m into, then you’ll at least be sorta interested, right?

So, click here, and enjoy!

–Steven

Time does fly. What have I been up to?

purebspodcast.com

I’m now hosting a podcast with my good friend Ben Dorst. It’s just a couple if guys BSing for about an hour. We talk about anything…really…anything.

Beyond that, I’ve been doing all the behind the scenes stuff for the cast. I setup the website, the episode server, I record and edit the show. It’s been quite fun!

Other than that? Not much. I’ve been thinking non-stop about writing, but can’t seem to get myself in the correct frame if mind. I know, excuses. I need to forget about the frame of mind and just do it. Bah.

Anyway, another year gone. Good-bye 2013, hello 2014. What next?

–Steven

Short answer: Procrastinating.

Long answer:

I find that creativity comes and goes. It’s an ebb and flow sort of thing. The trick that I’ve learned is that I always have a bit if creativity locked away, but the things that activate it can be difficult to find.

What I should be doing (or, rather, what I feel like I should be doing- or what I want to be doing) is writing. The last time I got into a groove successfully it was during my lunch breaks at work. About fifty solid minutes of writing time four days a week. That’s great, but I found it to be a bit of an emotional strain to not have a real “break” during the day.

I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get back into this rhythm. Until I can find something that works, I’ve turned to other pursuits to channel my creativity.

1) RPG

There is an awesome RPG out there called Edge of the Empire that veers towards more creative interaction and storytelling than stats and fighting. I’ve been working on creating a narrative (or design module) for use in a game. There may be opportunity for publication, at least on an unofficial level, and perhaps some feedback. It’s been great using my creativity to construct a story, and a world that story lives in.

2) Game creation

Board games! In recent years I have discovered the majesty of board games, card games and other group games that may only need a pencil, paper, and a few good friends to have hours of good times. I have tried my hand at game creation in the past, and even worked up a prototype or two that never really went anywhere. A few weeks ago, inspiration struck, and I’ve started designing a board game. The rules and themes are a bit in flux right now, but more information will be forthcoming!

3) Game playing

When all else fails, I turn to game playing to satisfy that creative urge. Three games of late have fulfilled this: State of Decay, Gnomoria, and SimCity. What each of these have in common are that the player had to manage resources and build things to progress, while protecting those resources. I can sit in front of my computer for hours creating, planning, and executing ideas. It’s fun to play in another’s playground while still getting to create and fulfill ideas in your own way.

I hope to get back to writing soon. I really want to continue the story of Universal Constant… I just need to get it out of my head.

–Steven

So, what happened? As far as I can tell, I had a textbook case. My lower stomach and side hurt. Pain came and went. Went to the doctor, and she said I should ease up on the exercise and eat that yogurt that has the stuff in it.

For a while, everything was fine.

A few weeks later, the pain came back, in a big bad way. I was up all night, thinking I had food poisoning, and stayed home from work the next day.

(Quick side note on “up all night.” You hear that said a lot, and while I did get some sleep, at most it was 20-30 minutes at a time. I was getting delirious at one point, thought the dog had a human body and was crouching at the foot of the bed. It was weird.)

After my wife came home, and I explained that all day the pain never went away completely and I couldn’t sleep and so on, we decided to go to the local Medstop.

Since I said I had abdominal pain, they saw me fairly quickly. The nurse asked all the questions, and pressed on all the things in my stomach.

“You guys get to go to the emergency room.”

She couldn’t say for sure that I had appendicitis, but the symptoms were there and I needed a hospital to be 100% sure. They called ahead and we went to the emergency room.

Again, they asked all the questions and poked at all the things. I was admitted and the doctor was fairly sure it was appendicitis. I got an IV installed and they took some blood. Those tests came back showing my body was seriously fighting an infection.

Surgery was scheduled and I was put under.

It was a laparoscopic surgery, all I have now are three small scars. Recovery took the rest of the week, and the most painful part was the pain in my shoulder. (They pump CO2 into your body to make room for the surgery. Some of it gets stuck and migrated into your shoulder until your body absorbs it.)

Now, nearly two weeks later, I’m feeling pretty darn good.

On another note, I was able to send out some query letters last Sunday, and got a response from one (another negative). Oh well.

And so the story goes.

–Steven

Now I get to play the waiting game I suppose.

It’s weird the thoughts that go through your head when making large decisions like this. I had a taste of it when submitting to the contest and the literary journal, but this was on a larger scale. Self-judgement I suppose? Feel like I’m in over my head.

If nothing comes if this (which, I’m really not expecting much to happen) then nothing changes. I keep writing for myself an life goes on.

If I get a response, well, that’s a whole other can of worms. To be clear, a response, either positive or negative is a step in the right direction. A positive step leading to an agent, or perhaps comments on how I could improve my query letter. Even a negative step, being completely ignored, I could spin into being positive. I would then be positively certain that I need to move my writing in a different direction.

Anyway, submitting those letters was hard. Hope things get easier.

–Steven

I wrote out an outline for this book. First time I’ve done that. While it helped me get the story down, the act structure complete and the character arcs interesting, in my mind, the story is done. Finished.

When writing “Win Some, Lose Some” I had a rough idea of where the plot was moving, but I left things open. I let some plot strings dangle so that I could pick them up when necessary, or leave them as red herrings. I also allowed myself to add in cool things when I wanted, and adjust the plot accordingly.

Now, it’s different. I already played around with the plot. Everything has it’s place and there are no dangly bits. Everything is tied up nice and neat. Now, writing Is almost as if I’m just going through the motions.

Odd really.

Maybe this is the way to go, maybe I need to free write more. Time will tell I suppose.

–Steven

Kind of feels like a cross between a resume and a final. You have to sell yourself and prove that you’re a good author in as little text as possible. Paring down the book summary has been more difficult than meeting a required word count for a short story.

How do you sell a book in three sentences? I suppose that has been answered- just look in any bookstore. But still, it’s a rough proposition.

In other news, I’m going to be adding to my portfolio page soon. I’ve decided to put up some material from the latest book I’ve been working on. Check back soon for that.

Cheers,

–Steven

It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of regular updates, so I figure I should address what’s been going on.

My wife and I bought a house! Pretty darn exciting. Although, with just under a half acre of land, there is quite a lot to tend to on the weekends and after work. We have a seasonal creek running through the front of the property which has a small orchard on the other side. We have fruit trees! There are also a few oak trees that produce a crazy amount of acorns and leaves in the fall, but are gorgeous to look at and be around every other season.

It’s been an interesting transition going from a renter to an owner. The amount of responsibility is kind of overwhelming and freeing at the same time. Do I have to cut the lawn myself every weekend? Yes. Can I choose to rip the lawn out and put in a huge concrete slab? Yes! See what I mean?

Getting on to the subject of writing, I’ve recently decided that I need to do something with the book that I have written. (See here for a sample) I was browsing somewheres on the ‘net the other day and ran across a link on “how to get your book published”. I wish that I could remember where I found it. Maybe it was on my twitter somewhere…anyway here is the link. I read through it and was amazed at how realistic and easy going the article was written. It made the whole process of getting something published seem feasible.

So, I clicked through several of the links and came away with a nugget of a thought. Maybe I can get this thing published.

I am currently in the process of writing and submitting agent query letters to find myself an agent. Will it be a fast process? No. Will it be successful? Yes. No. Maybe. I suppose we’ll have to see. I’m going to put forth some real effort to keep this blog up to date and inform whoever cares on the progress of finding an agent, and hopefully getting published by one of the big boys.

In the mean time, I’ll continue to write, hopefully get published again within the pages of if&when, and keep this ball rolling.

I encourage you to encourage me by commenting below, following me on twitter (@stevezer0) and emailing me, talking to me or sending me a friendly text saying “Cool Story, Bro” and meaning it.

Wish me luck,

–Steven

I have been successfully published twice now, both in if&when. Please, do them a favor and check out their journal. It’s really good. They even have subscriptions available now, which I suggest you try out, just in case I get published by them again.

Here’s a few links to buy their first two volumes, which I have pieces in:

Click here to purchase Volume 1 (also, check out the free PDF trial version)

Click here to purchase Volume 2 (again, free PDF trial)

Thanks for the support!

–Steven

If&when vol. one, with my short story “The Kill” is now available.

Check out their website for purchasing information: http://ifwhen.us/

I’ve submitted another short story, which isn’t featured here yet, for the second volume. I’ll update again if it’s accepted, and might just post a bit of it to wet your whistle.

–Steven